Multiple Cover variations is what I consider one of the WORST things being done to GI Joe in comics today. I think it's doing more harm than good too. Let me elaborate.

It seems with the current series there's more cover variations than ever to keep up with for the Joe comic collectors (which of course includes me). That, to me is a major negative thing. I know comic companies gotta make money... and what better way to boost a single issue than slapping severall different covers on it knowing there's a percentage of "completionist" collectors out there that'll buy em all no matter how much they hate spending the extra money. A few issues go way overboard like Transformsers VS GI Joe... having 6 variations on the cover, plus a single reprint. That's 7 issues to buy if you plan to complete the collection.. and all that's extra is the cover art. :confused: GI Joe Frontline #1 has 7 covers. And it's not just limited to issues 1 and 2 of the newer series... most of the recent issues atleast have one alternate cover.

To me, this is all just preying on the biggest fans of the series that there are. It's IMO also devaluing the comics. Why not put the artist who's doing these extra covers to work adding a few more pages to each comic? Why not instead go to a 2 issues per month like Marvel did if there's a need to make more money with the series. That way the fans get more comics. I'd happily buy more if they were infact different... however I'm never going to get into this multiple cover variations crap.

Overall this to me is the biggest problem I have with the current comic series.

On top of the cover variations though the other thing that gets me (though not as much) is releasing TPB's so close to the actual issues being out and putting em in both soft and hardback. Why not wait a few years? Make people go out and hunt the comics. Also, what's so hard about putting the books out with comics in the order they released? Right now I'm not sure should I wait and just get the TPB's... or go for individual issues. They put so much on the market at once it makes collecting them a painful decision to any one late to the collecting.


IMO these issues should be taken seriously by the DD peeps and everyone working on and buying GI Joe modern day comics. I wan't these guys & gals to keep on pumping out the new comics... I wan't them to make good money so the series currently running keep on... but not at the expense that it's a pain to determine what to purchase. I don't want multiple cover variations. I'd rather get multiple issues in the same month to help them make more money (though it requires more work). Save the TPB's for later releases. Sure I enjoy em.. but right now I'm not even bothering that much with the single issues because I can buy the TPB's cheap. Few of the comics are holding their value that long at all too. All these releases IMO are killing the value. As a collector... I'd like to know that what I'm buying into is going to atleast retain it's value or stay close. So much drops so fast it also makes buying new almost a non-issue for me. EBay can net many used copies in new condition of the TPB's for cheap and the individual comics in bulk for dirt cheap (1/2 or more off retail).


What's your take? Do you love cover variations that have you spending twice or more for one issue of GI Joe and then later to find it out in TPB Hardback and soft format too soon? Do you just buy one of each issue and forget collecting cover variations?

I'm curious if I'm totally alone here too. IF I didn't care about GI Joe surviving in the comics rhelm I wouldn't say anything and just make sure I atleast had one of each issue and let it go. I love GI Joe stuff... comics more than anything... so this has been a real dillema for me since every decision to purchase is questioned (should I get this one or wait to find the other cover or wait for the next batch of tpbs.. should I just not buy it at all and hunt more Marvel backissues... or what).

As far as GI JOE comics go, I just pick up whatever cover I like best and move on. The only thing is that I picked up the wrong cover of the Devil's Due silent issue. I'm hunting down the "other half" cover. It took me months to realize this. Shows how much I know :P

But I collect the TPBs and hardcovers for most of the Marvel Ultimate comics. I get The Ultimates and Ultimate X-Men in paperback. I get the hardcovers of Ultimate Spider-Man. Why? They were the most accessible to a latecomer to the series like me. The only reason why I get Ultimate Fantastic Four monthly is because I caught it right from the beginning. I'd love to follow all of these comics monthly, but finding affordable backissues wasn't as easy as getting into the TPBs and hardcovers.

But I've got to agree with you on most of your points about multiple covers. They're out to get the "completists" money. I wish they'd just release one cover, but whatever. At least the Wraith covers looked cool. I got all of them.

I do not think that the 'A' and 'B' covers are as bad as the limited and exclusive covers. It seems their is always another Dynamic Forces variant or a Holo-foil cover for Gi Joe/Transformers. When looking at Devil's Due's website I noticed that the Graham Crackers variant to the Joe/Transformers had four different colors of foil. I personally enjoy collecting (or at least trying) and reading the entire series but I can't possibly travel throughout the US going to different conventions and getting all of their exclusives. Thank God for ebay but one can only do so much and i think that Devil's Due needs to tone it down a little. I know our accounts would be happy.

I dont understand the point of multiple covers either. Completionism is a sickness IMO anyway. I'd rather be a story completist, and just pick the cover I like best.

When looking at Devil's Due's website I noticed that the Graham Crackers variant to the Joe/Transformers had four different colors of foil.

What? Where does it say that? I know it had a gold foil and a non-foil cover, but hadn't heard about multiple foil covers.

Are you sure you aren't mixing that up with Frontline #1?

Personally, I've decided to stop complaining about multiple covers, and let my wallet do the talking. I'm passing on the whole Aftermath line because of alternate covers on G.I.Joe stuff. I just don't have the money to do both.

Actually, you're right. Sorry about that. I guess I just got confused with all the different foil covers. But, it is crazy that the Frontline #1 foil you could choose the foil color. I guess I need to do more research before I post wrong information again. :)

Personally, I've decided to stop complaining about multiple covers, and let my wallet do the talking. I'm passing on the whole Aftermath line because of alternate covers on G.I.Joe stuff. I just don't have the money to do both.
I hadn't voiced any complains prior to this one. Then again I haven't been involved in any online communities talking about this stuff till recently.

I am voting with my wallet but at the same time I will say I'm more into the comics side of things than the figures and in trying to complete my Marvel collection of Joe stuff I've also wanted to get more of the after series stuff and ran back smack into the whole covers issue. I won't be buying the multiple covers... however at the same time I wish they just didn't exists.

I would so much rather if DD just did what Marvel did back in the day when they wanted to milk more money out of GI Joe fans... that was the two issues a month thing. I LOVED that. I don't mind spending more money on more original content (as long as that content is good quality stuff)... however I certainly can't collect everything that's put out. And that sort of takes away from the modern comics line for me anyway because I wouldn't mind having a full collection... however I won't get caught up in the whole multiple cover thing.

The worst thing for me about multiple covers is, since I don't buy the new comics regularly, sometimes I accidently buy two of the same issue when I don't recognize the cover. I used to do that with Wizard issues too...

I know it sounds dumb but I only go to the comic store now once in every blue moon and I forget which was the last issue I bought. The comics at my store are sealed so that rules out opening them :(

I have no problems with the multiple covers in fact the hunt for them is quite fun. It does hurt the wallet.

I guess my only complaint is the foil covers that only vary a little and are price over ten dollars. It is just to much for a comic. And they are generally the only covers missing in my collection. Maybe someday, I will fill them in, but at $15 a pop not anytime soon.

I do hate not having them missing, but reason kind of takes over

Different covers doesn't bother me. I just buy the one I like. What bothers me about DD is their crappy shipping department. I have ordered the same recent issues TWICE and I still haven't received it. The local comic book store, which is about 20 miles away, either never got the particular issue or they sold out of it.

Why doesn't DD step up to the plate like the big boys and offer yearly subscriptions? This way their readers don't have to go searching for each issue. Is it because DD isn't confident they will still be around in a year? Is it because they have no faith in the longevity of their titles?

Multiple Cover variations is what I consider one of the WORST things being done to GI Joe in comics today.


This is another reason I love trade paperbacks - they almost always include a section at the end with all of the cover variants. Drop $15 on the TPB, you've got everything in one swoop.

Don't bother with the multiple covers. If you really want to support the comics industry, try buying a variety of titles, not a bunch of copies of one comic that is already selling well...

Just an FYI

G.I.Joe vs the Transformers volume II #1 has 8 covers so far.

Grahamcrackers.com has a foil version of 34 for sale.

I also hate the Variant Covers! A while ago I tried to buy them all, because I wanted a complete collection, but now I have stopped that and only buy 1 copy of each Issue. I have posted about the Variant Cover Madness so many times on the Devil`s Due Site but they just don`t care, they only say "If you don`t like them, don`t buy them" and comments like "Get over it, life is short be happy". I think that was not very nice, I supported the comic all the time but 4-8 Covers for one issue is just stupid and when there are Covers like Black & White Version, Foil Version in 5 Different Colors it`s just stealing money from the Fans and does nothing good for the title. And if they would check their sales they would see that the Variant Covers do not increase the sales very much, in the end Variant Covers do more harm than good for a comic. But don`t tell them that because they will say "You have no proof that Variant Covers hurt a title" . Just a few examples: Masters, Witchblade, Gen 13, Darkness, nobody cares about such titles anymore, and GI Joe had far better sales when they did not made Variants. But to be honest I don`t care about the Variants anymore, I just want the title going on for some while because I think the story is pretty good. Far better than Reloaded which I kicked out of my monthly buy list this month because it was very stupid and I don`t feel the need anymore to support everything Devil`s Due publishes from GI Joe. One last thing, I would also never buy anything other than GI Joe from them because they always start everything with Variants, Variants and more Variants, that`s just bad.

As I don't feel the need to buy every single one, multiple covers don't really bother me. The recent GI JOE issues have had an excuse in fact, with the "WRAITH" storyline running parallel to the main plot, so a cover featuring both is a nice touch. I can't find a similar reason to excuse the variants during the "RETURN OF SERPENTOR" 4-parter beyond the fact that it was "epic" and also Josh Blaylock's last arc. Still, I try to buy two of every issue anyway so usually I find the different covers handy to distinguish between my 'reading' and 'keeping' pile.

Don't forget the secondary reason for foil covers. . .

- Impulse buyers (who judge books by their cover).

- And people who mistake the variant cover for the new issue.

I've personally done both of these (albeit unintentionally) quite a few times.

And not wanting to insult the comic-shop I've been very loyal to for over ten years now, I usually eat the loss. But still, it's a great gimmick for comic companies to exploit people like me & nail those extra few bucks every now & then ;)

-PJ

And then there is the compusive buyer who can't NOT buy any GI Joe book that comes.